America The Not So Hated

The votes are in and they've been counted twice. Conservative Felipe Calderon has been certified the winner of the Mexican presidetial race. Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is promising a court battle. However Calderon has won the election, albeit by a narrow margin.

Something I read about the campaign in the New York Times got me thinking. Calderon has charged Lopez-Obrador with being a staunch Anti-American in the mold of Venezuela's Bush hating warthog, Hugo Chavez. Far from admitting it, Lopez-Obrador indignantly responded he was no such animal and that he would maintain cordial relations with the US and encourage its investments.

What does this tell us? Even to the Leftward half of Mexico's electorate, or at least a majority of them, maintaining at least lukewarm relations with the US is important. Hugo Chavez couldn't win an election in Mexico (couldn't win a FAIR one in Venezuela either).

Now, when we listen to the Liberal Media, they tell us America is hated around the world over the war in Iraq. They cite this poll, taken by Leftists, that America is viewed as the most dangerous threat to the world today. However, election results in the various republics of Europe and the West tell us a much different story.

The only openly Anti-American Leftist to win was Zapatera in Spain, in March, 2004. Osama bin Laden handed it to him with the 3-11 attacks three days before Spaniards went to the polls. The Conservative Aznar was blamed for the attacks and the election was over before the emotions of 3-11 died down. All things being equal, Zapatera would be just another loser, as he deserves to be, and no doubt will be in 2008.

The Liberal Media played up Zapatera's victory to the skies. They barely mentioned the triumph of Pro-American, Pro-Iraq War Conservatives in Greece three months later. The Greek Right had promised to get the Olympic facilities squared away, and the Socialists had been making a hash of it.

Then came the elections in Germany, Poland and the UK. In Germany, Conservative Angela Merkl ran on a platform of restoring full good relations with the US and won. Poland elected Conservatives. In the UK, Laborite Tony Blair held on to a majority diminished by nearly 50 seats. But, as we all know, Tony Blair is a friend and not an enemy of the United States and he is also one of the architects of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2006 we had elections in Canada, Italy and, of course, Mexico. In Soviet Canuckistan, we had an unexpected Glasnost with Conservatives sweeping to power in the wake of rampant Laborite corruption. The Left narrowly won in Italy, but like Lopez-Obrador in Mexico, Romano Prodi promised Italians cordial relations with the US.

Where's all this hatred for America? None of the election results of any Western Republics indicate a major shift to the Left against America. On the contrary five of the eight elections in Western Republics yielded the result of a Conservative victory (six of nine if we count the US election of 2004). All three Leftist victories were by thin margins, one a good friend of America. The elections speak a different story than Left Wing push polls.

Even in the Muslim world, where there is much Anti-Americanism, many people there believe in us. The Lebanese threw the Syrians out after thirty years, inspired by the new Republic in Iraq. Democracy Movements have emerged in Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.

Looking at the facts, we can see that the Left Wing Media has just been churning out more "Blame America First" garbage when it tries to scare us with all the tales of how the US is so hated all around the world.